Roundtable event: Unpacking the Civil Society Strategy: Integrating Civil Society into Europe’s Security Architecture

Does the EU’s Civil Society Strategy help or hurt Slovak and more broadly CEE communities actively shaping the public sphere? 

On Wednesday, 3 December, we held a closed-door roundtable with the representatives of the media, policymakers and diplomats to discuss the European Democracy Shield and its role as a tool against democratic backsliding. Participants debated on how Brussels can support civic actors in countries like Slovakia without feeding anti-EU narratives or enabling capture by hostile governments.

Members of the civil society, regional donors and diplomats argued that corruption scandals, misused EU funds and clientelistic networks have hollowed out trust, while disinformation and foreign information manipulation flourish in poorer regions that feel left behind. Pro-Kremlin narratives are no longer imported from Moscow but recycled by domestic actors and parts of the political class.

The group argued that solutions for Slovakia must start at home: rebuilding trust through civic education, local memory work and public debate, and backing independent media and community initiatives that offer credible alternatives to disinformation outlets. Anti-disinformation efforts from Brussels need to be smart and low profile so they cannot be misused in partisan battles. 

This discussion was a part of the European Commission’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programmes and involved a Visegrad Insight-led three-year engagement across Central and Eastern Europe: https://visegradinsight.eu/eu-values-foresight/

Photos: Jakub Kovalík